


Pool Me Out!

by LenkaVittoriaElisse16



Series: SteveTony games 2020 [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Unreliable Narrator, Unrequited Love, but it's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25598719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LenkaVittoriaElisse16/pseuds/LenkaVittoriaElisse16
Summary: Steve thinks Tony hates him, his friends disagree. Turns out that the saying “to ASSUME is to make an ASS of U and ME” is correct.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: SteveTony games 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852267
Comments: 12
Kudos: 86





	Pool Me Out!

**Author's Note:**

> For the SteveTony games Fluff fill
> 
> Square: O2  
> PROMPT FILL: Unrequited love (Angst)  
> Bonus prompts: Unreliable narrator 
> 
> Notes: Inspired by a remix of songs on spotify
> 
> Special Thank you to: Kait (Starksnack) for the Beta <3  
> Also to my cheer readers: Onlymorelove and spaceboundwitch

_ Tony hates him _ , Steve thinks to himself as he drinks a bottle of chilled Heineken he pulled out from a nearby icebox during homecoming. He is sitting by himself in the pool deck, legs submerged in the cool water, looking at the opposite end where a clump of other alumni crowd around  _ the _ Tony Stark in a drunken game of truth or dare. The whole poolside is buzzing with youthful energy, and despite it being a September night, it is warm enough for everyone to be outdoors.

"And why would you think that?" Bucky asks as he joins him by the pool. 

"He ignores me," Steve replies albeit a bit longingly.

"Huh?" Bucky blurts, surprise lacing his voice. "I said ‘what do you think about this place?’" His friend meant Tony's villa. Tony's expansive villa, which he offered to be the venue of their alumni homecoming. Steve must have misheard what Bucky said, he could now feel his a blush creeping up to his face. 

"It's nice," he answers curtly, "Typical of Stark."

"Okay, so, who is this person who is ignoring you?" Bucky inquires as he leans forward, close enough that Steve can see his lips twist into a grin that he wants to erase.

_ God I hate you when you tease me, _ Steve decidedly scrunches up his face in irritation, yet his expression doesn’t stop Bucky from teasing him further.

"Ayyy yo, whassup man!" Sam slurs a bit tipsy from his drink in his hand. Steve watched as Sam sauntered towards them from Tony’s group on the opposite side of the pool area.

"Eyyy man!" Bucky said, and the two fist-bump each other followed by an elaborate bro-shake, that makes Steve roll his eyes

"Why is he frownin'?" Sam points at Steve, who is clearly sulking at the edge of the pool.

"Somebody is ignoring him, man," Bucky answers for him. "Be careful he isn't in the mood, else he'll throw ya in the water."

"Hey, bud, y'should be partying with us. Tony just staged a game of truth or dare earlier," Sam says as he takes a sip of his beer. "C'mon, you should play with us,"

"I saw you all play," Steve replies. He tries to sound casual, yet his voice comes out more tight-laced than he wants. 

"Hey man," Sam blinks a couple of times, clearly trying to reorganize his tipsy brain into having a decent conversation with Steve. He sits beside the blonde man sandwiching Steve between him and Bucky.

Sam throws an arm around his friend, and Bucky leans in close. "Tell us what’s bothering you, we won't laugh, I promise,"

Steve sighs, and Sam can’t help but drunkenly giggle beside him. 

"C'mon man, spit it out," Bucky presses, "who hurt you?"

"Not hurt," Steve begins, "but hate."

"Oooohhhhh," the two other friends interrupt in unison.

"Shut up, or I won't talk anymore," Steve says, his eyes focused on the beer on his hand as he takes another generous sip.

"Sorry, Steve, we won't interrupt you, forgive us," Sam said, a hint of playful mockery in his tone. "Okay, let's enter serious mode guys,"

"I think..." Steve pauses, his stomach roiling at the words about to pass his lips, "I think Tony hates me,"

"WHAT?" the two exclaim in unison. 

"Are you serious, Steve?" Bucky asks incredulously, "I mean-"

"-I am dead serious Buck," Steve answers. "That man over there," he points to where Tony and their other former classmates are gathered. Tony is flaunting a red speedo and a black unbuttoned velvet waistcoat, looking for all the world like he belongs among royalty. He looks over at Steve and his pals and swiftly moves his gaze as if rolling his eyes and hating their existence by the pool. Steve can’t understand why Buck and Sam take no offense to Stark's rude attitude toward them.

"Did you see what he did there? He practically rolled his eyes at us!" Steve exclaims angrily, drinking a sip of beer to cool his hot cheeks. 

"What are you talking about Steve? Tony  _ winked  _ us!" Bucky clarifies.

"It was a sexy wink too, wished he did that to me," Sam sighs dreamily, his eyes practically hearts.

"I can't believe the two of you!" Steve replies. "He clearly dislikes me,"

"Hmmm? Say that again?" Sam asks, still in awe with Tony's  _ wink _ at them. "He dislikes you?"

"How the hell would he dislike you, Stevie?" Bucky says, "You are clearly his type," then he proceeds, "you know, Tony is into tall, buff, blonde guys like you..."

"Psssshhh... Oh please, for the love g- Buck! Don’t remind us of Tony’s horrible ex Tiberius Stone.” Sam whined, a bit overdramatic, but Steve can remember how of an ass Ty was towards Tony when they were still together. It's a good thing that guy packed his bags and moved to the  _ Bible belt _ . “...he was a real pain in the butt..." Sam trails off, brows furrowed in anger at the thought of their former classmate.

"Yeah, horrible piece of trash," Bucky mutters, turning to Steve. "Okay, let’s discuss why you seem to think Tony hates you,"

"For one, you literally just said I resemble his horrible ex, so probably he doesn't like seeing me," Steve said. "I remembered that whenever Tony and I worked on an activity in the student council, he kept on calling me these ridiculous names."

"But that's something Tony always does!" Sam declares. Now that Steve thought about it, yes, Tony did seem to call people various nicknames. "You should feel honored. Besides, what did he call you that was so bad?"

"Uhmm...  _ Capsicle?  _ He kept on referencing this comic book hero who got stuck in the ice since the 40's like he thinks I am some kind of old man," Steve sighed with his head hung low.

"Steve," Sam’s voice was hopeful as he leaned forward, trying to cheer him up, "You may not know this, but Tony is a big Captain America fan. I can't believe you didn't scroll through his social media account to find him dressed as Cap during Comic Con!" 

"Sam..." Bucky chastizes, shaking his head, "Steve only has a stan twitter account, he wouldn’t know that."

"Shut up Buck," Steve hisses. "I want to keep my anonymity on the internet, okay?"

"Yeah, too bad, Tony doesn't do twitter that much, he's more of an IG guy," Bucky says with a chuckle.

"Well, if you travel the whole world during your summer breaks and have amazing villas and mansions, IG is better," Sam points out.

"Uhm..." Steve bites his lip nervously. "I've been looking for Tony's Instagram, but it's private, so..."

Bucky pushes Steve, almost knocking Sam into the pool. "You're hopeless, Steve!" 

"I didn’t want to intrude on his privacy!" Steve defends himself.

"But, but you are the president to his vice president!" Bucky exclaims trying to get Steve to understand why he was most deserving of following Tony’s insta. "You two literally spent hours together  _ alone _ during the past year! Everyone could see that you two are perfect for each other, Steve! You like him, and he likes you!"

"We've been together _ alone _ , alright, but it's nothing special because he kept teasing me." Steve mopes even further. "And besides, he is always with Rhodey, so I'm guessing the two of them have started dating, anyway."

Bucky looks over at Sam and the two nod at each other in silent agreement. With a sigh of frustration, Bucky tells Steve. "Tony likes you back Steve, if he didn't he wouldn't rescue you from drowning,” then there was a pause. “Wanna bet on that?"

Before Steve can even get a word in about never having drowned before, Bucky and Sam push him into the deep end of the pool.

SPLASH!

Steve’s head barely breaks the surface, The sound clearly caught Tony's attention away from his game with his peers if the yelling is anything to be believed.

"Help! Help!  _ Steve is drowning!!!"  _ Bucky calls out to everyone. His voice is flat with no real sense of urgency to it. Despite that Tony quickly removes his velvet waistcoat and dives into the pool to  _ save the drowning  _ Steve Rogers. 

Meanwhile, Steve tries to tread water; despite being over 6ft tall, his height is no match for the pool which is edging on 12 ft deep. The alcohol has absolutely buzzed his system, thus forgetting his elemental skills of floating calmly above water. Through his panic, he feels someone grab him and pull him towards the shallow end of the pool. Then, the next thing he knows, everyone is gathering around him and the brunet genius of his dreams. Steve figures that Tony laid him by the deck away from the pool. He can feel the wooden surface underneath him.

"Steve! Steve!" He can hear Tony giving him light pats on the shoulder and face. It takes him a while before he can cough the pool water out of his system, and through it all, he tries to turn onto his side and he can feel Tony's hand rubbing his upper back. 

"Tony," Steve breathes out at last relaxing a bit, "Tony, I thought you hated me," he finally pushes out, his heart beating unsteadily fast in his chest.

Tony shoots him a surprised look, "Where the hell did you get that idea Steve?"

"I..." Steve was speechless his mouth opening and closing like a fish, "you don't hate me?"

"Steve, I've been trying to ask you out for forever, but you always changed the topic whenever I tried to flirt with you!" Tony explains, his eyes wide in shock.

_ Wait, did Tony just... confess his love for me just now? Say something, Steve! _ "I like you, Tony, I just thought you liked to tease me because I’m so old fashioned and I look like your ex... and I thought you were dating Rhodey... and," Steve's words are jumbled as he tries to get his thoughts together. He talks too fast for anyone to really understand his sentences, let alone what he is trying to say in general. Behind Tony, he can see Bucky and Sam hollering with laughter until a confused Rhodey moves towards Bucky, and the two share a quick kiss with Bucky telling him something that sounds like the joke of the century.

Steve's gaze flitted back to Tony's. "Care to chill with me by the pool?" Steve asks his savior.

Tony purses his lips together then proceeds to smirk at him, brown eyes sparkling with barely concealed joy. "I thought you'd never ask,"

Tonight is going to be a good night for Steve.


End file.
